There is talk that the Pope is giving his final blessings. He speaks of the fact that "Wormwood" (Planet X) has arrived. There is talk that supposed astronomers are watching something large speeding toward Earth.

Quote:

redrat11 wrote:

Quote:

Torchlithill wrote:
Where does it say anything about a rapture in the bible?

Now That's Weird....

I was listening to the radio today, and this preacher was talking about the "RAPTURE" and how Christ-Believers were going to be taken away up in the sky. And that the people "left-behind" would suffer tremendously through the "tribulation" which is supposedly close by, now as far that being true I'm not buying it, I'm no Bible Expert, but I'm pretty sure they take that out of context and come up with the RAPTURE THEORY, I'ts not true for everyone, I beleive some will be RAPTURED, but those are the so called 144,000 in the book of Revelation.

This is just another misunderstanding... and there is NO "rapture" EVER mentioned in the Bible. The "Heaven's Gate" cult believed they would be "taken into the air".

Wikipedia: The word "rapture" comes from the same root as rapt: the Latin verb rapere, or the adjective raeptius[1], which means "carried away by force, caught up". The 405 AD Vulgate translation used it in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, which is the main biblical reference usually quoted for the Rapture event. The specific form used is rapiemur, "we shall be caught up", translating the original Greek harpagēsometha (ἁρπαγησόμεθα) (passive voice, future tense of harpazō (ἁρπάζω): "snatch away, carry off.")

"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:52)

"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not preceed them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
(1 Thessalonians 4:15

One common criticism of the pre-Tribulation rapture is based on the assumption that the necessity of believing in Christ would be proven, by the events of the rapture, to anyone left behind. Thus anyone left behind who had knowledge of the rapture theory, but previously did not believe in Christ, would essentially be forced, by the proof of this miracle, to believe. This would prevent any type of Antichrist from having any credibility.

This debate will never end. We do know that Jesus stated that he spoke in parables to hide the truth from those who were not true followers. I believe the answer lies in the parable "pray your flight not be in winter" and "like a thief in the night".

It makes no sense to me that with our existence comes pain and suffering. When you add religion or
more specifically "Christianity" to that equation "pleasure" suddenly becomes "sin". We are then left to endure in our faith. Therefore, no one shall be spared of what is to come. What could be so terrible in the end times, as compared to things occuring on this planet every single day, unimagineable things, that any one should be spared? I see no reasoning or evidence to support this.

If I am not mistaken also, the translation from Greek is the word "ruwach" meaning "air" meaning "spirit". Once we are released from our flesh bodies, and we become one with "spirit", you could argue that you have been "taken up into the air".

The Christ that most will accept will be the false one. This is true today and has been in progression since our beginning. I'm sure there are qualified churches out there somewhere, but they are fewer and far between. The institution of "Christianity" today is like all other institutions... corrupt. A good example of this would be George Bush attending church and being a good little Christian boy whilst murdering. Yeah. There is also currently a "globalization" of "religion" as there is with the educational, financial and scientific institution. It is this globalization that changes words used to describe Christ such as "corner stone" instead to "capstone" which really means "Anti-Christ".

It is clear we are not meant to play guessing games when it comes to this stuff. Unless Jesus himself tells you that you will be taken up and spared before the end of the story is told, don't believe it. He/She who is concerned with physical pain does not understand the concept of Christ.

Why shall anyone be spared? Who claims the right to predict the end days and predict who shall go to heaven and who shall go to hell? The idea of a "rapture" is rather insulting, in my opinion, to Christianity and is just another example of how corrupt today's institution of religion has become.

Were I to believe that I would be "taken up" and spared from the final tribulation would be equivalent to me assuming the role of God in my own "judgement" of myself as God's elect... let alone "others". Though through faith I believe I will enter the kingdom of heaven, and true faith is "knowing"... it is not my judgment. I would go so far as to say that to believe in the rapture is a "sin". Yes "rapture" = "sin". It's very selfish.

"Pray your flight not be in winter" isn't necessarily saying "Make sure your flight is in the summer"... but more "Pray your spirit is not given to the false one".

Belief doesen't need to serve only to stop one from thinking further.

Judge not... even yourself! Sorry, you are not qualified. Know those parables.

I hope I've been clear on that for those of you who I've offended with this post.

Quote:

NoRelationTo wrote:
Anyone think that the end of the Mayan calendar's now world period, scheduled for two-thousand twelve, or the Suntelia Aion, might be in reference to a pole-shift or asteroid brought about by another large planetary body, say Nibiru for instance?

"Like a thief in the night..."

Noone has the authority to "predict" the future. Noone can know. Did not the Mayans also rip hearts out of people and commit human sacrifices? They all disappeared too... perhaps they were raptured away. As will be the case with us, with their advancement came their downfall. The pyramids are left behind where civilizations literally vanish to remind us that the height of our own creation is not that of the creator. He does not like it when we put ourselves above him and trade our cornerstones in for capstones.

Ironically, the pyramids will still be standing when everything else has crumbled.